An increase in the scale of modern science is associated with the proliferation of a new kind of research formation: collaborations involving teams of researchers from several organizations. Historical and sociological studies indicate substantial variation in such formations, but no general classification scheme exists. The authors provide the outline of a scheme through a systematic analysis of multi-institutional collaborations that span a variety of fields in physical science. First, general dimensions of scientific collaborations were identified through a qualitative, historical analysis (...) of collaborations in high energy physics, space science, and geophysics. Next, the authors used informants in five new areas to collect systematic information on twenty-three recent collaborations. Finally, cluster analysis was employed to develop a variety of classification schemes and examine their relationships with outcome dimensions. Results show that a classification based on a broad conception of technological practice is superior to others in its ability to predict perceived success, trust, stress, conflict, and documentary routines. (shrink)

In the wake of Stalin's death, many Soviet scientists saw the opportunity to promote their methods as tools for the engineering of economic prosperity in the socialist state. The mathematician Leonid Kantorovich (1912–1986) was a key activist in academic politics that led to the increasing acceptance of what emerged as a new scientific persona in the Soviet Union. Rather than thinking of his work in terms of success or failure, we propose to see his career as exemplifying a distinct form (...) of scholarship, as a partisan technocrat, characteristic of the Soviet system of knowledge production. Confronting the class of orthodox economists, many factors were at work, including Kantorovich's cautious character and his allies in the Academy of Sciences. Drawing on archival and oral sources, we demonstrate how Kantorovich, throughout his career, negotiated the relations between mathematics and economics, reinterpreted political and ideological frames, and reshaped the balance of power in the Soviet academic landscape. (shrink)

This article proffers an invitation to neoclassical sociology. This is understood as a Habermasian reconstruction of the fundamental vision of the discipline as conceptualized by classical theorists, particularly Weber. Taking the cases of Eastern and Central Europe as a laboratory, we argue against the idea of a single, homogenizing globalizing logic. Currently and historically what we see instead is a remarkable diversity of capitalist forms and destinations. Neither sociological theories of networks and embeddedness nor economic models of rational action adequately (...) comprehend this diversity. A neoclassical approach enjoins an empirical research agenda comparing capitalisms, and an ironic, historical approach to analysis to inform an immanent critique of capitalist possibilities. (shrink)

El artículo contextualiza e investiga los detalles del «Mes de Reflexión Episcopal» organizado por el Departamento de Pastoral de Conjunto del Celam en julio de 1971, que reunió providencialmente varios obispos, algunos de los cuales no estuvieron en la II Conferencia General tres años antes, y que darían testimonio del espíritu de Medellín hasta el martirio o hasta una muerte trágica en cumplimiento de su misión: Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Juan Gerardi Conedera, Gerardo Valencia Cano y Raúl Zambrano Camader. El encuentro (...) se describe a partir de la revisión documental de las actas y de los pocos informes impresos. La tesis central del artículo es que el diálogo informal entre obispos, teólogos y otros expertos en el «Mes de Reflexión Episcopal» es fuente de propuestas novedosas para una Pastoral de Conjunto, contra la clericalización y el autoritarismo en la Iglesia latinoamericana. Desafortunadamente, no hay una reunión posterior similar debido a una controversia con la Congregación romana para los obispos. (shrink)

Considering a fixed language of propositional calculus and the class of formulas with n propositional indeterminates, the evaluation of these formulas with respect to a given truth-values assignment for these indeterminates and with respect to the usual worst-case analysis is proved to belong to the O-class.

Analysis of the Slovak Discourses of Sex Education Inspired by Michel Foucault The aims, rules and topics of sex education exist on paper, but have yet to be implemented in Slovakia. Although the curriculum creates the illusion of openness in this field, the silence on sex education in schools provides space for the alternative, "more valuable" quiet discourses of religious education. Under these conditions, it is silence that is proving to be an advantageous strategy for the majority of those who (...) should be voicing their opinions. Instead, they listen and control. By contrast, those who do speak out, children and young people, do not in fact, speak to them, but mainly among themselves. Those who are silent and listen are not prepared for the younger generations confessions on sexuality, which are mostly taken from the liberal area of media, especially the internet. The silent frequently lack, at the very least, the basic ability to react and debate in this changed situation. Those who are involved in the discussion on sexuality in Slovakia are those who should listen and supervise. (shrink)

Este ensayo tiene como objetivo denunciar la persistencia del viejo estereotipo sobre los vagabundos. La historia y la literatura están en el origen de esa construcción social que caricaturiza a los mendigos. Mediante una investigación cualitativa de las noticias de prensa, se comprueba que en la actualidad esas etiquetas antiguas perduran. De este modo, el drama social de los sin techo nunca llega a conocerse en profundidad, y lo único que el público recibe son imágenes deformadas de un mundo grotesco (...) y violento que produce compasión y pasividad al mismo tiempo. El cuestionamiento de los estereotipos y una aproximación más humana al problema, pueden ser un primer avance para adoptar otra actitud por parte de todos. (shrink)

Promatrani s kulturalnoga i religijskog motrišta, europski korijeni su mnogovrsni: helenističko- rimski, »barbarski«, židovski, kršćanski, pa na neki način i islamski. Dakako, kršćanski korijeni i tradicija bili su i ostaju temeljni za razvoj europskog identiteta kakvoga danas poznajemo. Ne odnosi se to samo na religijski i moralni identitet nego i na općekulturalni, socijalno-ekonomski i estetsko-umjetnički. Doduše, ova tvrdnja često dovodi do raznih reakcija i diskusija u raznim europskim okruženjima te »zavodi« i odvodi ljude, njihove zajednice i njihove potencijale više u (...) prošlost nego u sadašnjost i budućnost. Temeljni doprinos kojega kršćanske crkve mogu ponuditi u današnjem i sutrašnjem europskom kontekstu ne odnosi se toliko na priznavanje i »pomirenje« oko povijesnih nesuglasica koliko na suradnju u izgrađivanju europske budućnosti. Doprinos toj izgradnji mogao bi se temeljiti ne samo na priznavanju identiteta nego i na otvorenosti drugome i na dijalog s njime, koji pak dovode do suživota u multietničkom, multikulturalnom i multireligijskom okružju. Otvorenost, dijalog i suživot imaju ipak neke nužne pretpostavke: a) pomirenje čovjeka sa samim sobom; b) pomirenje čovjeka sa sebi sličnima; c) pomirenje čovjeka sa svim stvorenim.Von kulturellen und religiösen Gesichtspunkten aus betrachtet, sind die europäischen Wurzeln vielfältig: hellenistisch-römisch, „barbarisch“, jüdisch, christlich und in gewisser Weise auch islamisch. Sicher bleiben die christlichen Ursprünge und Tradition grundlegend für die Entwicklung der europäischen Identität, wie sie uns heute bekannt ist. Dies betrifft nicht nur die religiöse und moralische Identität, sondern auch jene kulturelle, sozial-ökonomische und ästhetisch- künstlerische. Jedoch leitet diese These des Öfteren zu mannigfaltigen Reaktionen und Diskussionen in verschiedenen europäischen Umfeldern, „verführt“ und wegführt Menschen, ihre Gemeinden und ihre Potentiale eher in die Vergangenheit als in die Gegenwart und die Zukunft. Den hauptsächlichen Beitrag, den die christlichen Kirchen im heutigen und morgigen europäischen Kontext leisten können, betrifft nicht so sehr das Eingeständnis und die „Versöhnung“ bezüglich der geschichtlichen Uneinstimmigkeiten, sondern vielmehr die Zusammenarbeit in der Gestaltung einer europäischen Zukunft. Der Beitrag zu dieser Zusammenarbeit könnte nicht nur in der Kenntnis der Identität gründen, sondern auch in einer Offenheit zum Anderen und im Dialog mit ihm, die dann zu einem Zusammenleben im multiethnischen, -kulturellen, und -religiösen Umfeld führen. Offenheit, Dialog und Zusammenleben benötigen aber auch einige Voraussetzungen: Versöhnung des Menschen a) mit sich selber; b) mit seinesgleichen; c) mit der ganzen Schöpfung. (shrink)

U ovome tekstu ispituju se odnosi izmedju pojmova drustvenog ugovora, suverenosti i opste volje kod Rusoa. S jedne strane ti pojmovi proizlaze jedan iz drugog i uzajamno se podrzavaju. S druge strane samo pojam suverenosti uspeva da izbegne metafizickim implikacijama koje bi ga ostavile u stanju teorijsko-politicke fikcije. Opsta volja, medjutim, uprkos Rusoovim naporima da je artikulise kroz zakone, ostaje teorijsko-politicka fikcija zbog pretpostavke po kojoj jedinstvo politickog tela ne sme biti naruseno, iznutra, frakcijama ili partijama. Da je dopustio takvu (...) mogucnost, Ruso je morao da odustane od organskog razumevanja zajednice, odnosno morao bi delu da d? prednost nad celinom, za sta nije imao dovoljno pojmovnih sredstava. (shrink)

This paper discusses the epistemic value of political parties and other partisan associations from the standpoint of epistemic democracy. It examines whether political parties contribute to the quality of democratic deliberation, thus increasing the epistemic value of democratic decision-making procedures, or represent a threat that polarizes the society and impedes and distorts the public deliberation. The paper introduces several arguments that support the epistemic value of partisanship. Partisan associations empower otherwise marginalized social groups or groups that have disproportionally small political (...) influence by facilitating political education or by connecting citizens and experts who share the same values. Partisan associations also help us resist the epistemically damaging effects of hermeneutical (epistemic) injustice by enabling marginalized citizens to construct alternative discourses. However, though partisanship might facilitate the transmission of knowledge, this deliberative tool will only be used in a group of like-minded citizens (i.e. within a political party), thus increasing the polarization between the parties and citizens alike, and decreasing the epistemic value of such collective decision-making procedures. The paper analyses some epistemic strategies (like red-teaming or building a critical thinking culture) that can help us avoid or (at least) reduce the epistemically damaging effects of polarization. However, internal action (from within a deliberative group) might not be enough. Making the deliberation on political issues public and spreading it through different forms of citizens’ organizations will ensure that political deliberation is not closed within a single homogenous deliberating group (i.e. the party). These practices should significantly reduce the damaging effects of group polarization. (shrink)

The usual justifi cations of democracy attach central importance to fair decision-making procedures. However, it is being increasingly emphasized that it is necessary to address epistemic considerations to justify democracy and democratic authority. In her book Democracy and Truth: The Conflict between Political and Epistemic Virtues, Prijić-Samaržija defends the view which places emphasis on the necessity of epistemic justification of democracy. In this paper, I will discuss her criticism of epistemic proceduralism, which can be considered major contemporary framework for epistemic (...) justification of democracy. Within the framework of epistemic proceduralism, for justifying democracy and democratic authority it is necessary to take into account both political and epistemic values. Nevertheless, Prijić-Samaržija thinks that epistemic proceduralism is not sufficiently epistemic and that it reduces epistemic to political values. I shall argue that epistemic proceduralism can be defended from this kind of criticism. (shrink)

In the study of human cognitive activity using electroencephalogram (EEG), the brain dynamics parameters and characteristics play a crucial role. They allow to investigate the changes in functionality depending on the environment and task performance process, and also to access the intensity of the brain activity in various locations of the cortex and its dependencies. Usually, the dynamics of activation of different brain areas during the cognitive tasks are being studied by spectral analysis based on power spectral density (PSD) estimation, (...) and coherence analysis, which are de facto standard tools in quantitative characterization of brain activity. PSD and coherence reflect the strength of oscillations and similarity of the emergence of these oscillations in the brain, respectively, while the concept of stability of brain activity over time is not well defined and less formalized. We propose to employ the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) as a measure of the EEG persistence over time, and use the DFA scaling exponent as its quantitative characteristics. We applied DFA to the study of the changes in activation in brain dynamics during mental calculations and united it with PSD and coherence estimation. In the experiment, EEGs during resting state and mental serial subtraction from 36 subjects were recorded and analyzed in four frequency ranges: θ1 (4.1–5.8 Hz), θ2 (5.9–7.4 Hz), β1 (13–19.9 Hz), and β2 (20–25 Hz). PSD maps to access the intensity of cortex activation and coherence to quantify the connections between different brain areas were calculated, the distribution of DFA scaling exponent over the head surface was exploited to measure the time characteristics of the dynamics of brain activity. Obtained arrangements of DFA scaling exponent suggest that normal functioning of the brain is characterized by long-term temporal correlations in the cortex. Topographical distribution of the DFA scaling exponent was comparable for θ and β frequency bands, demonstrating the largest values of DFA scaling exponent during cognitive activation. The study shows that the long-term temporal correlations evaluated by DFA can be of great interest for diagnosis of the variety of brain dysfunctions of different etiology in the future. (shrink)